


Peaceful in the deep

by bothsidesnow



Series: Life down below [3]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29808606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bothsidesnow/pseuds/bothsidesnow
Summary: Elain stumbles across a stolen moment between Feyre and Rhysand, and re-evaluates their relationship.Feyre and Rhysand as Persephone and Hades, where Elain realises that Feyre has grown to love her life below.(Can be read as a standalone as well as part of the series)
Relationships: Feyre Archeron/Rhysand
Series: Life down below [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2181612
Comments: 3
Kudos: 44





	Peaceful in the deep

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! The title is from Never Let Me Go by Florence and the Machine. I would love feedback, as I'm only just getting back into writing, but I hope y'all enjoy!

The day was melting into a dusky orange sunset as Elain made her way back to the house. The light set the corn fields aglow with golden fire, and she was considering taking a little extra time to drink the sight in when she heard the laugh.

It wasn’t one that she recognised, which was strange, because the sisters rarely had visitors. When they did there was always a big fuss made, which truly none of them enjoyed that much anymore. Elain had liked the adrenaline-filled parties as a child, but now that they were all older, and they got along better and didn’t wish for some stranger to whisk them away from family dramas, she found that she liked the reliable comfort of her sisters’ company.

Men hadn’t been kind to their family, anyhow.

Despite this, the laugh was definitely male. It was a rich laugh, light with happiness and less deep than some men would prefer. Elain edged towards the copse of trees that the sound drifted from – she didn’t want to get too close; she would come back with Feyre and Nesta if there was to be any confrontation, but she at least wanted to know if she needed to be worried.

As she got nearer, she could hear another voice too, speaking low. Both people were speaking too quietly for the sound to carry like the laughter had. Like they didn’t quite want to be heard. Maybe a pair of lovers trying to carve out a moment for themselves, thought Elain, and she calmed her racing heart a little.

They at least sounded like they were having a nice time, which didn’t usually indicate a threat in Elain’s books.

She could just about see the pair coming into view through a gap in the trees, and she hid behind a broad trunk to observe. The first thing she noticed was the leathery black wings, morbidly beautiful with the dusk light shining through and turning the membrane red-purple. They obscured the face of the man, but the woman was sitting towards him, her face turned so that Elain could see her. It was Feyre.

She had a smile on her face, which was unexpected. Elain and Nesta had been trying for weeks to break her out of her morose lull. She always returned from Below like that, half her mind trapped in some dark damp world, where Elain was sure she couldn’t imagine the horrors Feyre had to tolerate. It was understandable, that it took her some time to shake off the feeling of being there, and Elain always did her best to bring Feyre gardening or encourage her to paint to bring her back into the real world.

But today, without Elain’s affection or Nesta’s distractions, Feyre somehow seemed to be happy. Elain was glad, truly, even if she was also confused and maybe a little sad that they couldn’t make things better. If a lover was what it took, then who was Elain to deny Feyre a little romance to distract from the harsh reality of her split life?

None of them could understand really, what Feyre’s life was like the other six months of the year underground. It made sense then, that they didn’t always know how to help.

The wings fluttered, folding into the man’s back as he reclined further against the forest ground. His face was finally visible.

Elain inhaled sharply – she had only ever seen the face before from afar, half shrouded in the darkness of Below, but there was no mistaking him. It was Rhysand, and he was smiling gently at her sister as she gave him a wide, animated grin.

Of all the things she had anticipated it had not been this. Elain had expected Feyre to recoil from the man, had always expected her to be disgusted by him. Whilst it was true that Feyre insisted they didn’t understand, there was no way Elain would have predicted this.

They looked like they were in love.

Feyre, who had always been vivacious and passionate and forceful but who always returned to her sisters with a dissipating haze of depression, was so alive while she looked at Rhysand that Elain couldn’t breathe to look at her. Rhysand too was adoring, or Elain would attribute all this to some kind of perverse trick on his part.

He was not what she had expected. Elain had pictured some great hulking beast – a kind of person analogous to fungus that grew in the dark. Looking at Rhys now, the thought seemed ridiculous, because he was beautiful.

He was more human than she had ever imagined, lean and strong and surprisingly youthful, with dark hair that caught blueish in the light and a sensitive face. In the dying light of the day, Elain couldn’t think of another word for how they looked together than _romantic_. She felt, suddenly, like a voyeur.

She had stumbled upon something private. A part of Feyre’s life that she maybe wouldn’t ever have believed without bearing witness to this moment.

Feyre leant over her lover and kissed him slowly, one hand at his jaw with fingers just touching the lengths of his hair. Elain couldn’t help but see the tender, desperate way that he held her – like she was something precious that he would have to let go. When they pulled away, they both had wet tracks on their faces. Feyre brushed Rhysand’s away with the swipe of a thumb.

“It’s only a few months, Rhys, and then I’ll be back,” Feyre’s voice carried to where Elain still hid.

“You’ll enjoy your time here with your sisters if you let yourself, Feyre,” Elain could hear him whisper back, and then he said lightly, jokingly, “although I know it’s impossible to drag your thoughts away from my wonderful self, darling.”

Elain had _definitely_ never imagined him making jokes. Or actually thinking about her sister enough to try and comfort her. Come to think of it she had never been able to envisage what daily life must be like Below, except for some vague concept of sitting in damp rooms and being generally miserable.

Feeling like she had intruded, Elain did her best to quietly pick her way back to the house. She undoubtedly managed to step on a few twigs, and just hoped that they were both so wrapped up in each other that they wouldn’t notice.

They had a late dinner that evening when Feyre finally returned. Elain didn’t bother asking where she had been, and she could see that Feyre’s eyes were red-rimmed, but her lips were flush. She seemed somehow happy and sad – a bit bittersweet.

Whilst passing a dish of potatoes, Feyre held her sister’s gaze heavier than usual, and Elain knew that she had been noticed. But Feyre just gave a small smile, as if she was glad that someone had finally seen the truth of her life, at least a little. Elain made a mental note to ask her more in the future about Rhys, and about what Below was like, and to actually believe her this time rather than trust that Feyre was either putting on a good show to make them all feel better or under some spell. Love was a kind of spell, she supposed. 

In five months’ time, when they escorted Feyre back to that cave where she would leave them, Elain made sure to embrace her sister tighter and without sadness. When she watched her go this time, she didn’t miss the relief on Rhys’s face as he was able to hold her again.


End file.
